Report is biased, says martyr’s wife

Describing the Pradhan committee report as lopsided and biased, Vinita Kamte, wife of Ashok Kamte, said it was not right that “coward officers” of the Mumbai police force should get away while just one is targeted.

Describing the Pradhan committee report as lopsided and biased, Vinita Kamte, wife of Ashok Kamte, said it was not right that “coward officers” of the Mumbai police force should get away while just one is targeted.

Additional commissioner of police (east region), Kamte was gunned down outside Cama Hospital on the night of November 26, 2008, while fighting Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and Ismail Khan.

“If, according to the report, Rakesh Maria [who was in the control room] did a good job, then why is it that it was only at 12.56 am he came to know about Hemant Karkare being injured, while Hasan Gafoor learnt about it at 12.15 am itself?” Vinita asked.

She added that while Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Karkare was near Rang Bhavan, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Maria had information that he was operating at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.

“Being a senior officer, why was Maria sitting in the control room when he should have been on the field?” Vinita said. She added that the committee’s report on the attack was lopsided and biased.

“Except for Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil and then police commissioner Hasan Gafoor, none of the IPS officers from the south region were seen on the field,” she said.

“Ashok Kamte and additional commissioners of police Hemant Nagrale and Sadanand Date, who did not even belong to the region, came all the way [to the attack spots]. Moreover, when Maria told them to rush to the spot, why did he not send any security staff with them?”

Kamte observed that the committee should have also spoken to the police of lower rank, who were on the field.